Importance: Lymphedema is a debilitating condition that affects approximately 1 in 1000 individuals in the United States. Complete decongestive therapy is currently the standard of care, and innovative surgical techniques have demonstrated potential to further improve outcomes. Despite the growing armamentarium of treatment options, a large proportion of patients with lymphedema continue to struggle because of limited access to care.
Objective: To define the current state of insurance coverage for lymphedema treatments in the United States.
Design, setting, and participants: A cross-sectional analysis of insurance reimbursement for lymphedema treatments in 2022 was designed. The top 3 insurance companies per state based on market share and enrollment data maintained by the Kaiser Family Foundation were included. Established medical policies were gathered from insurance company websites and phone interviews, and descriptive statistics were performed.
Main outcomes and measures: Treatments of interest included nonprogrammable pneumatic compression, programmable pneumatic compression, surgical debulking, and physiologic procedures. Primary outcomes included level of coverage and criteria for coverage.
Results: This study included 67 health insurance companies representing 88.7% of the US market share. Most insurance companies offered coverage for nonprogrammable (n = 55, 82.1%) and programmable (n = 53, 79.1%) pneumatic compression. However, few insurance companies offered coverage for debulking (n = 13, 19.4%) or physiologic (n = 5, 7.5%) procedures. Geographically, the lowest rates of coverage were seen in the West, Southwest, and Southeast.
Conclusions and relevance: This study suggests that in the United States, less than 12% of individuals with health insurance, and even fewer patients without health insurance, have access to pneumatic compression and surgical treatments for lymphedema. The stark inadequacy of insurance coverage must be addressed through research and lobbying efforts to mitigate health disparities and promote health equity among patients with lymphedema.